Burnpot Full of Ash after 8-9 hours?? HELP!!

[jdbell]

Did I read your comment correct. Did you say there are no holes in the bottom of your burn pot liner, if so, that's your problem......there should be multiple holes (ie....30 or mores) in the bottom of that liner.....that should be replaced under your warranty.........can you post a picture of the inside of that liner?

 

[StormPanic]

I don't think there are holes in the bottom. Will check as soon as I get home

 

[SmokeyTheBear]

OK so now I am thoroughly confused. I am almost certain that my stove did not come with the high ash liner (will confirm when I get home). The pellets I burned last night were Geneva which I thought were pretty high quality but I could be mistaken. I will do some calling around today and see what else is available in my area (I know I can get Logik-e). As far as the damper goes, I am not really sure what to do. I figured leaving it full open would improve things (which I think it did). This morning the burnpot was noticeably less full than the previous burns. I guess I will start with getting the high ash burnpot and experimenting with the damper at different levels? I don't have access to a magnehelic gauge. I can also leave the door to the garage open in the room to see if that helps. If it does, I can install an OAK.

Google, ebay, and amazon are your friends as is any true HVAC shop and a decent pellet stove dealership.

These stoves need a proper setup and regular cleaning, they will be just fine provided you pay attention to those two things.

Cleaning is all ash level related and will vary according to the pellets burned and how well your stove was setup.

Once you get ash build up in the pot it is also time to look for ash build up in other places, because it will be there.

Ash build up destroys air flow and air flow is critical to a pellet eater more so to a top feeder than a pusher or auto cleaner.

This is the reason for krooser's bolded 80% line in his signature and me placing the tired old a clean stove is a happy, safe, and warm stove in a number of postings at the end of some threads.

We can also go looking for air leaks as they impact the air flow through the burn pot, that was why corkman hit you with the test all of the gaskets response.

You can go from a nice fire to a smoldering mess in just a couple of hours without even trying if you get on the wrong side of all of the ash creation causers. I know I've been there, it wasn't a fun time.

 

[SmokeyTheBear]

I don't think there are holes in the bottom. Will check as soon as I get home

Those holes if they are there (I can't imagine there not being any at all ) must be cleaned out when you do your regular weekly shutdown, it only takes a small buildup to have a large impact on the air flow through them.

Some folks soak their liners prior to reaming the holes out with various poking devices (a gun cleaning kit brass brush of the correct caliber works really well for this).

My pot has slots and I can run a sharp putty knife along on the sides after soaking or use a small brass brush.

 

[StormPanic]

Just talked to the store I bought the stove in and they are going to swap out the liner for me as long as there are no holes in the bottom

 

[StormPanic]

OK so the holes are there - my bad. Just fired it up. Heat level at 5/5, Feed Trim at 1/5, Combustion Air Trim at 5/5. I assume this means that I need to install an OAK? Was thinking of maybe rigging something up with some pool hose out the window to see if that makes a difference before I cut another hole in the house. Here is what the flame looks like now. Not sure how easy it is to see.

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[SmokeyTheBear]

The video is marked private.

 

[StormPanic]

my bad - all set

 

[jtakeman]

The video is marked private.

Its one of those sexy stove vids You know the ones us old farts would get all excited over and prolly have a heart sputter over!

 

[SmokeyTheBear]

The flame looks fine but what does that Mag say?

What I don't see is ash ejecting.

 

[StormPanic]

Not sure what you mean by Mag and ash ejecting? Can you clarify?

 

[SmokeyTheBear]

A top feed stove removes ash from the burn pot as the fire burns it does this with the air flow through the burn pot. The ash is actually sucked out of the burn pot and falls down over the edges into the ash pan or the area around the burn pot. Aka a sparks show.

Magnehelic (Mag)(Dwyer differential pressure gage) a gage used to properly set the damper on your stove following the directions in the installation manual.

 

[StormPanic]

OK got it. Have definitely been getting lots of ash around the burnpot (see pics). But I have also had a lot of ash collecting at the bottom of the burnpot liner (see pics). I don't have a Mag gauge, any way to fix this without it?. Right now I have the damper wide open. Trying to isolate the problem.

 

[SmokeyTheBear]

I've seen those pictures, first the stove must be setup correctly for it to burn correctly and to set it up correctly requires that it be totally clean and for you to have the proper equipment.

If after totally cleaning your system you wish to set the damper by eye, you are looking for a bright yellow to white flame with blue showing just above the pellets in the pot, a good spark show, and wiggling pellets.

Please note:

This will only properly setup the stove if the stove and venting is clean and you otherwise follow the instructions in the manual. Patience pays off in this operation.

 

[StormPanic]

Thanks for all of the great advice. I just switched to North American Pellets that I had left over and the flame seems a bit better than with the Geneva's. I do think that the stove is not getting enough combustion air so I am thinking that a OAK is in my future.

 

[StormPanic]

Just ordered OAK from Amazon. While I am waiting for it I can finish the install on my powered vent from the basement to upstairs. I feel like I have already spent the money this stove is going to save me in oil.

 

[imacman]

Does the fire die down after the initial "big fire" during start-up? I'd like to see a video of it burning "normally".
Can we see pics of the burn pot liner w/o the ash in it?....just curious as to the location & size of the air holes.

 

[StormPanic]

So things seem to have improved a bit since yesterday. I switched from Geneva's to North American and flame looked great when I got up this morning. Will post updates as soon as the OAK arrives and I get it installed. Also probably going to try Cubex or Logik-e pellets next.

 

[StormPanic]

So I think the problem may have been that I was not closing the door handle all the way (duh!!) I wasn't pulling it ALL the way down because the end of it was scratching the stove. I thought that it was tight enough but now that I closed it 100% of the way, the flame seems much better with way less ash in the liner. I guess there is a learning curve involved in everything.

 

[DexterDay]

A loose door, means a bad seal, which results in a Large bypass.

Lots of air was being robbed from the pot.

That may have very well been your problem.